Sunspots on Face, White, Red, Cancer, Causes, Pictures, Treatment & Home Remedies

Sunspots on face show up as white or red dots or patches due to exposure to UV rays from sunlight. Is this condition dangerous? They usually have various effects on the skin. Rarely, they may later develop into skin cancer. Explore facts, pictures, causes, signs, and symptoms of sunspots on face. Also, learn how to get rid of and prevent them with treatments and home remedies.

Signs and Symptoms of Sunspots on face

Sunspots are dark or lighter marks that may appear on your skin due to sun damage. Sunspots are also called solar lentigines. These spots typically occur on areas of your skin that are usually exposed to sunlight.

Your face is one of the prime spots on your body that might show up sunspots due to frequent exposure to sun’s rays. The sunspots on your face can show up as black spots on lips, cheeks, chin, and eyelids, under eyes, around eyes, and on forehead region.

The sunspots on your face may not necessarily be a black or white mark, they can as well appear as brown, pink, red, or grey depending on your skin color. For dark skin individuals, sunspots may not be more visible compared to lighter skin individuals.

The common signs and symptoms that are characterized by sunspots on face include the following:

Black, dark, red, brown, pink or whitish spots and patches on the face
Scaly, flaky, cracked, dry and leathery skin on the face
Small or large dark mark on your face
Round or irregular shaped dark patches on skin of the face
Few or many black spots on the facial skin
Redness, inflamed and tender skin on the face
Fluid-filled sunburnt blister on the face that grow bigger
Raised spots, bumps like pimples on facial skin
Wrinkled skin on face with freckles

These symptoms may vary from one person to another depending on the effect of sun damage. The sunspots on your face can range from tiny pinpoint dot to large chronic dark patches that grow larger inside. Tiny, few and mild sunspots are usually associated with slight sun damage while chronic large dark spots can appear after serious skin damage from harmful sun’s rays.

Sunspots vs Freckles

Freckles are a form of sunspots that may appear on your skin due to sun damage. Freckles are small dark, brown or red pigmented spots or patches that usually occur on the surface of the skin. A freckle on the skin is also called lentigo or aphelia.

Are Sunspots on skin Dangerous?

Sunspots on your skin are generally dangerous. These spots can lead to either beauty or health-related problems. Dark spots, freckles, Melasma, and wrinkles are some of the types of sunspots that might threaten your beauty. These sunspots can make your skin to look unpleasant and worrisome.

Furthermore, sunspots are more dangerously especially when they develop into chronic skin condition such as melanoma and actinic keratosis. Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that affects melanocytes to produce excess skin pigment. Melanocytes are specialized skin cell that produces melanin or skin pigment.

Cancer of the skin as a chronic condition that is difficult to treat. You can escape these skin conditions by avoiding direct and long exposure of your skin to harmful UV rays from the sun. Alternatively, you can apply appropriate sunscreen with SPF to your skin to protect it from harmful UV rays.

Do Sunspots Go Away on Their Own?

Sunspots on your face can go away on their own after sometimes if they are few, tiny and mild. However, serious sun damage can lead to large and chronic sunspots on your skin that are more permanent.

Permanent sunspots on face can be treated with the help of medical treatment that might be done by a qualified dermatologist. Laser treatment and chemical peels are some of the medical treatment that you can go for if your skin has miserable sunspots that have refused to go away on their own.

Sunspots on Face Pictures

How does sunspot on the face look like? To see how they may appear, we have included descriptive pictures of sunspots on the skin in various parts of this post. These pictures or images might have a slight difference to the actual view of your skin condition because of the variation in skin color.

Despite the slight difference, you may use these pictures to assess the health condition of your skin and get some clue about it. if you notice that your face has s similar condition that almost resemble the one in these pictures, it is advisable to seek the help of the dermatologist for diagnosis and treatment.

Causes of Sunspots on Face

Your face can develop sunspots due to exposure to harmful UV rays from the sun or any other artificial source. Also, there are several risk factors that can encourage your skin on the face to develop sunspots. The common factors that can cause sunspots on your face include the following:

1. Long exposure to direct sun’s rays

The skin of your face can develop sunspots after long and direct exposure to sun’s rays. The sun is a natural source of harmful UV-rays that may damage your skin. These rays can lead to sunburns and sunspots on the surface of the skin.

The harmful UV rays from the sun can stimulate the melanocytes (skin cells that produces melanin) to produce excess melanin or skin pigment in the affected area. This is usually called tanning effect of UV rays.

The sun’s rays can result in either acute or chronic damage. The acute effect of UV rays on your face is usually associated with tiny, few and mild sunspots that are not permanent. Also, the acute effects include the development of dry scaly skin.

Chronic damage of sun’s rays to your skin on the face can show up as permanent premature Dark Age spots, freckles, wrinkles and severely burnt blisters. Also, UV rays can lead to serious skin condition such as Melasma, actinic keratosis and skin cancer.

2. Artificial UV rays

Exposing your skin to powerful UV rays from artificial sources may have a similar damage as sun‘s rays. The tanning bed is an example of an artificial source of harmful UV rays that can lead to sunspots to appear on your skin when you are exposed to it.

Sunspots on face causes by artificial UV rays can also develop into serious skin conditions. For instance, premature black age spots, livers spots, freckles, wrinkles, actinic keratosis, Melasma, and skin cancer.

Risk factors that can cause sunspots on face

Sunspots can appear on your face due to certain predisposing factors that include the following:

Lighter skin: lighter skin color is usually associated with less amount of melanin on your skin. Your skin with less melanin may not be able to withstand harmful UV rays hence sunspots can develop.
Albinism. The albinism is a genetic condition that results in lack of skin pigment. The effect of sun damage on the skin can be more severe to you if you are an albino.
Bright sunny day: your face can form sunspot during the days of bright sunshine. Usually, sun damage on your skin can occur during the summer
Skin sensitivity to sunlight: your face can develop dark sunspots as a consequence of being allergic to sun’s rays.
Working outside under the sunlight: sunspots on face might be common to you when you spent the whole day working outside exposed to direct sunlight.

Red Sunspots on Face

Red sunspots can appear on your face when the blood vessels under the skin become inflamed or swollen. Basically, red sunspots on the skin are freckles. These spots may not only appear red but also they can be pink or brown in color depending on your skin tone.

White Sunspots on Face

Idiopathic guttate hypomelanosis is a type of skin condition that is usually characterized by white sunspots in the affected area. White sunspots occur when the UV rays damage the melanocytes and prevent it from forming skin pigment.

How to Get Rid of Sunspots on Face

When sunspots on your face are becoming bothersome, you can remove using various treatment methods. You can use home remedies or medical treatment. Home remedies can work effectively on tiny, few and mild sunspots on your face.

Alternatively, you can use medical treatment when your skin has chronic dark sunspots that are likely to advance into serious skin condition such as actinic keratosis and skin cancer.

Treatment

You can visit the dermatologist to help you in the diagnosis and treatments of your skin condition. The common treatment methods that your doctor might use to fix your skin problem include the following:

prescription of sunspots removal creams and lotion that can help to lighten dark spots on your skin
prescription of oral medications that include skin lightening drugs that can help in clearing away sunspots from your skin
laser treatment that can help to cure chronic sunspots on your face

Home Remedies

You can use the following home remedies to remove sunspots from your face:

1. Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera has a natural ability that can help to lighten dark sunspots on face.

How to use:

apply the Aloe Vera cream or gel directly to the affected parts of your face
let it stay on your skin for the whole day or night before washing it
repeat to apply it twice daily until sunspots on your face clear away

2. Lemon juice

Lemon juice has the acidic property that can help to bleach sunspots on your face:

How to use:

get ½ cup of lemon juice
soak a cotton ball into juice and apply it directly to the affected skin area
leave it to dry off before rinsing it with water
repeat this treatment twice daily until sunspots on your face fade away

3. Apple cider vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is an excellent home remedy you can use to remove sunspots from your face.

How to use:

dilute 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with equal amount of water
apply the dilutes solution directly to your face
let it dry off before you rinse the skin with water
repeat to apply it twice daily until the sunspots on your face clear away

4. Olive oil

Olive oil is an effective home remedy that can help to moisten dry and scaly skin with sunspots to facilitate the healing process.

How to use:

use your hands to apply the olive oil to the affected parts of the face
leave it to stay on your skin for the whole day or night before you rinse it off
repeat to apply it three times daily until sunspots on your face fade away

5. Buttermilk

The lactic acid in the buttermilk can help to lighten dark sunspots on face.

How to use:

use a cotton ball to apply the buttermilk on your skin
let it stay on your skin for about 30 minutes fore you rinse it off
repeat this remedy twice daily until sunspots on your face go away

How to Prevent Sunspots on Face

You can prevent your face from getting sunspots by using the following methods:

avoid long exposure of your face to direct sunlight
avoid exposing your face to artificial UV rays from the tanning beds and other sources
use hat or an umbrella to protect your face when exposed
apply suitable sunscreen with SPF on your face before exposure to direct sunlight
always stay under the shade or indoors

When to See a Doctor

You can see your doctor over sunspots on face if you notice the following conditions:

when your face develop dark sunspots that persist on your skin for more than three weeks without clearing away
when your skin develops blisters and bumps that can bleed easily
if the sunspots are causing severe pain, irritation or burning sensation
if the sunspots on your face are accompanied by other strange symptoms such as rashes, fever and eye damage